Home » Jazz Musicians » Ryoma Takenaga
Ryoma Takenaga
Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard
by Mike Jurkovic
Firebrand alto-saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins takes over the Village Vanguard and keeps it loose, y'all. From the rogue bossa nova “Ring Shout" and its immediate successor, “Composition II," each scenario has its very own sweep and sway. Take, for instance, the hell-raising, elders-chant fever inherent in “Composition IX." Twenty-three raucous, raise-the-rafters minutes wherein each participant--pianist and fellow hell-raisers Micah Thomas, bassist and man-on-a-mission Ryoma Takenaga and Kweku Sumbry, a swift footed drummer deeply schooled in Elvin Jones and Max Roach--inflame Immanuel ...
Continue ReadingUlysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat
by Jack Bowers
The rhythms presented on award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.'s latest album are not exactly A New Beat, as they have been heard in various configurations for at least eighty years or more, but they do provide a plausible indication of the path that Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers would presumably have followed had Blakey lived into the twenty-first century. Owens, who teaches at the Juilliard School in New York City, has a knack for spotting and encouraging ...
Continue ReadingUlysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat
by Glenn Astarita
A New Beat, crafted by the multi-Grammy award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and his Generation Y outfit, materializes as a vivid emblem of jazz's evolving dynamics. This album, an amalgamation of nine tracks, epitomizes the fusion of classic jazz standards with inventive perspectives. Among its highlights, “Bird Lives" notably shines for its technical brilliance and tribute to jazz icons, striking a harmonious balance between honoring the past and embracing the new. This track, alongside the production's repertoire, demonstrates the ensemble's ...
Continue Reading
